Are you a loser - then this game's for you. (Go For Broke)

Member Name: belfin

Product:	Go For Broke
Date:	13/11/05 (1870 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good family fun

Disadvantages: can be more difficult than you would think

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I got this game years ago as a child - when playing board games was a great way of passing an otherwise boring Sunday afternoon when the rain poured down outside. This was kind of a family tradition without Playstations and the like to keep you amused, no DVDs and video rental was quite expensive at that time so this was a way to get us all involved in something fun. Looking back I can't help but feel that kids of today really miss out on this fun family time together when you fight over who gets which coloured playing piece and try to outsmart your parents. Didn't it feel great when you beat them.

This game is still around today - although it is quite difficult to find in the shops and you will have more luck with an online search if interested. The likes of Amazon and Farscapegames.co.uk have it for around £10 new or you can pick it up second hand cheaper on ebay. It involves a very strange philosophy - You have to lose to win so if you are always best at coming last then this is definately the game for you.

It is made by MB Games who are big retailers in the board games industry with other favourites such as Frustration, Twister and Operation. It recommends on the box that it is for age 10 and up but my girls used to play this when they were around 8 so depending on the child this is flexible. 2-4 players are needed for this game although you could easily have teams if there are more of you. This could cause conflict though as you decide how best to lose your money.

When you open the box you find the instructions written on the inside lid so no losing these as is often the case with a flimsy piece of paper and these give clear and precise details of how to build your own gambling centre. This is very simple as it involves sticking on stickers and clipping in 3 reels for your fruit machine, a reel for the stock exchange gamble, and sitting on spinners for a horse racing game and a roulette game. For the roulette game there is a small black pointer 'ball' which is fixed to the spinner so there are no small bits to lose. This done you have 4 champagne bottles which need coloured stickers on and these are your playing pieces for moving round the board. They are blue, red, yellow and green. There are also 2 dice and a coloured hotel to correspond with each champagne bottle. There are also share certificate and money in the box along with the playing board itself. This board is bright and colourful and has lots of pictures featuring a 'hooray henry' type which include him playing in the casino, riding in fast cars and on exotic holidays.

The game itself starts by handing out £1million to each player and all you have to do is spend it all to win. Sounds easy but as well as there being lots of purchases to be made there is also gambling which of course you can win on.

You start off the game in the corner of your colour and the dice are thrown to decide who goes first, highest starts. You then continue to move round the board in a clockwise direction following the instructions on the squares you land on. There are a few rules to follow as you do this.

*If you throw double six you can get rid of £100,000 to the banker, who like in Monopoly is responsible for looking after the money and in this case share certificates although if you are in a gambling corner this does not apply.
*If you land on the same space as someone else you get to give them £10,000 compensation for bumping them.
*Each time you pass over the Go For Broke lottery space you place £5,000 on the lottery tray on the board which can be won by a 'lucky' player if you are sent there during the game from one of the instruction squares. If however you win the lottery and there is nothing in it at the time then you pay £50,000 into it instead.

I mentioned the hotel pieces earlier and these are for buying one hotel each if you land on a hotel square. There are 6 to choose from and are all varying prices. This is a great opportunity to immediately get rid of a large sum of money but there is the chance of someone landing on you for a stay and you will then be paid rent which works out at 10% of what you paid. Hotels are as follows:-

Hotel Villa D'Ossa £50,000 to buy £5,000 rent
Hotel Shanghied £100,000 to buy £10,000 rent
Hotel Schlossed £100,000 to buy £10,000 rent
Hotel Spendide £150,000 to buy £15,000 rent
Hotel Costa Plenty £150,000 to buy £15,000 rent
Hotel 1001 Nights £200,000 to buy £20,000 rent

It is therefore up to you whether to go for a cheaper hotel immediately or try to hang on to purchase a more expensive one.

The Stock Exchange is another way to spend some money but you can only purchase shares when you land on one of the Buy a Share squares. There are 3 companies to buy shares in and each share costs you £100,000. They are Big Flash Electric Company, Dry Gulch Oil Company and Realybig Steel Corporation. When someone is sent to the Stock Exchange corner they have to spin the share wheel which has pictures for all 3 companies on it as well as a moneybag sign. At the bottom of each picture there are red and black areas. If the spinner lands in the red this means the price has dropped and all players who have share certificates for the company involved pay £10,000 to the bank for every share owned. Alternatively if your share lands in the black you get £10,000 for every share owned. If the moneybags sign is landed on then all players get £10,000 for each certificate they own regardless of company.

The races are decided by a spinner and there are four horses to bet on numbered 1-4. When someone is sent there then all players have to make a bet on a different horse. Horse 1 has the largest winning area and Horse 4 has the smallest area. Your bet can be between £5,000 and £50,000. The winnings are as follows:-

Horse 1 wins twice the amount bet
Horse 2 wins three times the amount bet
Horse 3 wins four times the amount bet
Horse 4 wins five times the amount bet

So if you think the favourite has more chance in winning then go for horse 4 but of course if it wins you are really in the money.

The Casino features 2 games and you have to play both games. You start with the Fruit machine which is for the player sent there only. You pay £20,000 to have a go and then spin each of the 3 reels. Winnings are as follows:-

Any 2 of a kind gets you £50,000
Any 3 of a kind gets you £150,000
3 x $ Symbols gets you the jackpot £250,000

The second game is the roulette table and you can choose one of 3 bets before spinning the wheel to decide your fate.

Pay £5,000 and choose a single number for this you win £150,000
Pay £20,000 and choose one of 3 groups of numbers and win £100,000
Pay £50,000 and choose red or black which wins £80,000

Now the other players can choose to place exactly the same bet as you on the roulette but only if they feel unlucky.

The last corner of the board where you can be sent to is to play the dice game Snake Eyes. This is to be played by the player sent there only. Now for anyone who doesn't know this game the point is to throw both dice and try to get at a 1 on either or preferably both dice. Of course as you are trying to lose here this isn't the outcome you want as 1 x 1 gets you £100,000 and double 1 gets you a whopping £300,000. To get rid of money you throw the dice as often as you want until you either decide to stop or get a 1. This amount is counted up and you pay £5,000 back to the bank for each point added. So if you scored a total of 10 and decided to stop you could get rid of £50,000. If a 1 appears though you instantly win and your score is disregarded.

This is a really good fun game and easy to play. The rules are easy to understand and betting amounts are written on the board itself so there is no constant looking up the rules as with some games. As well as the ways above to spend or gain money there are some fun instruction squares which give you a laugh as you go round the board. Such things as paying money to the Protective Society for Traffic Wardens would not normally be a welcome gesture to make (no offence to any traffic wardens out there) but of course this is a great way to lower your bank balance. There is also the fun idea that your friends will give you money cause they think you need a new wardrobe. I wish I had friends like that in real life. There are lots of funny scenarios as you go round this board and we really love this game in our house.

The only problem with this game is that it can vary in time length dramatically, for instance I think the quickest game I've ever played lasted around 10 minutes and the longest was around an hour and a half so make sure you have plenty of time just in case. Of course if time is limited I guess you could do an add up to see who has the least amount of cash at a specified time but this isn't as much fun.

I'll leave you with a strange story.

This was never such a popular game as certain other MB games and I had never come across anyone else who knew how to play it apart from my immediate family let alone owned it so imagine my surprise when my bloke and I moved in together. He owned this game too. Is that weird or what???

Summary: Easy to understand game for all the family.